Kiyoshi
by ladykatsuyu
Summary: A multi-chapter fictional story that takes place right before Sakura and Ino decide to open the children's clinic in Konoha after the war. This is a story of a child/family that lead to their decision to do so. Rated M for suicide and dark themes.


Sakura reached a hand up to wipe the sweat off her brow. "There is still pieces in the right intestine. If we don't get those, the infection will worsen," she said to the other two doctors in operating room.

They were performing surgery on a civilian who had received a very traumatic wound in her stomach. She and her family came to Konoha from one of the surrounding villages. Her husband was a shinobi who was killed in the war, and she had two children — a son who was 12, and a daughter who was 4.

She had receive surgery before from their village physician, but due to his lack of experience her wounds were not properly cleaned and festered; so she had to be taken to another hospital. Her children and a few of their neighbors brought her to Konoha. She had fallen unconscious while trying to cook dinner.

Upon seeing her condition and seeing the children, Sakura admitted her and brought her into surgery immediately. At present, she was trying her best to fix the other physicians mistakes, but she was beginning to worry…

"Sakura-sama," muttered one of the doctors who stood opposite of her. "She's not…She won't-"

"No," said Sakura firmly. "I am not quite done yet."

They worked for another three hours, and after a while Sakura and several nurses brought the mother into the room she would be staying in. Her children were already waiting. The boy bounced up onto his feet and ran to his mother's bedside as he looked at his mother worriedly. Sakura could see the trails in his face where tears had stained his face. His sister looked at her with a frown, and clutched her stuffed purple pig tightly

"What's happening? Is my mother going to be okay? Please tell me my mother is going to be okay," said the boy quickly, looking at Sakura with wide worried eyes, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

She looked at him with sympathy, then looked at his mother.

She thought of her sensei in that moment, and her words of advice when the day would come when she would inevitably be faced with a moment like this.

"We need to give it some time. We cleared out all of the infection we could find in the surgery. But only time will tell with these things."

"But…you're not saying…my mother could die, are you," he asked, giving her pleading eyes.

"I am saying we don't know what will happen with your mother at this point. It is best that we give her time to heal and that keep her comfortable. To give her the treatments she needs, and to let her rest while her body heals."

The boy looked at Sakura one last time and then began to cry, placing his head in his hands.

Suddenly, his sister moved off her chair and walked over toward him. She grabbed his arm and pulled him over toward the two chairs they sat in and he laid his head on her shoulder as he sobbed. She continued to look at Sakura with a deep frown.

Sakura frowned back at her and at her brother sympathetically and said, "I will be back in a while to check on your mother. If you need anything, there is a buzzer right there," she pointed to the buzzer by the bed. "A nurse or myself will come to help you with anything you need. Don't hesitate to ask for anything." She smiled kindly at the girl before walking out of the room.

As she walked out of the room and down the hall, she rubbed her eyes warily, trying to relieve the ache forming behind them.

They were not the first family she had seen who had fallen into the particular situation they were in right now due to the war. She had seen much worse — she had seen parents and children who died on the operating room table; and had seen parents and children who arrived at her hospital in a state that was so traumatic that they were beyond her care and all she could do was to keep them comfortable in their passing. She felt like she had hardened herself to the worst that the world could bring her; and she soon believed that she saw all of it and none of it at once as she tried desperately to put it all out of her mind. But she would not lie to herself and say that each time something like that happened, she did not feel pain anymore.

She removed her hand and sighed quietly to herself as she reached another patient's door and removed the clipboard on the wall to examine their status.

"Sakura," said a familiar voice from the end of the hallway. Sakura turned to see her friend and assistant, Ino, who walked toward her with a friendly smile on her face.

"Hi, Ino," said Sakura, smiling lightly at her.

"How's it going," asked Ino, stopping to stand beside her friend. She placed a hand lazily on her hip.

"It's going. Just trying to see to my patients," said Sakura, turning to look down at the clipboard. "What about you," she said, not wanting to offend her friend but trying to show her that she didn't really have time to talk.

"Things are going well. But I was thinking…Sakura, hey, you've been working for over 16 hours straight. You've gone through 3 surgeries today, and you've been making rounds and have been up on your feet all day. It's not good for you. Why don't you and I go grab something to eat," said Ino, tilting her head to she side.

"Not now, Ino, I've got a lot to do," said Sakura, her irritation starting to show in her voice. This was the third time today that Ino has asked her to do this.

"Come on, Sakura, please? You need to take care of yourself, or—"

"I said no, Ino," said Sakura, rounding on Ino with anger in her eyes. "I've got too much on my plate right now. I'll go get something to eat when I'm done."

"And when will that be? Sakura, I'm asking you to take a 30 minute break. Let the nurses do there job and handle your rounds for a few minutes while you sit down and eat. If you keep going, you will collapse. And we don't need that. The hospital needs you and needs your expertise. You need to take care of yourself," said Ino, frowning at Sakura.

"I said—" started Sakura, raising her voice, but Ino grabbed her arm suddenly.

"You are starting to yell, and you are going to disturb patients. Besides, I am only worried about you. So is Lady Tsunade. This on her orders," said Ino, looking at Sakura hard in the eyes.

"Lady…Lady Tsunade…"said Sakura, brow furrowing at Ino.

"Yes. She corresponds with me, too, you know. She knows you've been killing yourself. She told me to tell you to rest. Her orders," said Ino, giving her a knowing look.

Sakura frowned, then looked off to the side and bit her bottom lip.

"So, will you come with me," asked Ino, already knowing the answer.

Sakura let out a long, irritated sigh and said, "Fine. But only 30 minutes and then I must get back to work. Let's stop by the nurse's station on our way out."


End file.
